Accordion style bottom fold carrier



Sept. 5, 1961 e. E. STRUBLE ACCORDION s'ryuz BOTTOM FOLD CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 39 as L.

Filed Jan. 12, 1959 INVENTOR Glenn E. Struble BY I:LOC,\5

ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1961 G. E. STRUBLE ACCORDION STYLE BOTTOM FOLD CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 12, 1959 I! IIIIIIIII'II Q IIIIII gill/Ill FIJI/Ill!!! h FIG. 5

FIG. 6

25 54 7 58 INVENTOR Glenn E. Struble KHQL. E LOQIQS FIG. 7

ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,998 900 ACCORDION STYLE BOTTOM FOLD CARRIER Glenn E. Struble, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to Diamond National Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 736,189 Ciaims. (Cl. 220-113) The present invention relates to a bottle carrier made of paperboard, and more particularly to such a bottle carrier having the bottom thereof folded in accordion fashion when in the knocked-down state.

The marketing of small bottles of soft drinks for home consumption is now carried out extensively with the use of paperboard bottle carriers. These carriers, in their most advanced form, are manufactured by stamping out properly shaped blanks from paperboard stock. Thus, each carrier is made from but a single blank, which is folded and glued in known fashion to provide the end product. The carriers are then placed in paperboard shipping containers for shipment to the soft drink bottling plant; at the bottling plants, the carriers are removed from the paperboard boxes and placed in hoppers of automatic carrier opening machines, these machines serving to set up the carriers into bottle-receiving condition from a flat, knocked-down condition.

As heretofore made, these carriers in the knockeddown condition have presented a' multi-ply handle structure near one margin, and a bottom panel that is folded once, to provide only two or three thicknesses of paperboard at the opposite margin. Thus, these carriers do not stack evenly, either in their shipping cartons or in the hoppers of the opening machines. In addition, it has been found that the glue bond between the parts of the carrier bottom panel is not always a strong one, this being due to the fact that that margin of the carrier is of less thickness than the other portions of the carrier.

More particularly, it is the practice to stamp or cut out the blanks from the paperboard stock, to apply glue to selected areas of the blank, and then to fold the blanks as they move along a conveyor by means of plows. Rollers are used to exert a pressure on the parts of the blank having the glue thereon, after the folding operation, in order to obtain the adherence of the parts of the blank by the glue. In practice, it has been found that where a blank is to be passed through or under pressure rollers and there are varying thicknesses of the carrier at this stage of its manufacture, the pressure rollers do not provide a satisfactory adherence of those parts that are relatively thinner than other parts of the carrier.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bottle carrier that will insure a secure bond of the parts making up the bottom panel thereof.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a bottle carrier that will stack substantially level.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a bottle carrier that will take up considerably less space in a shipping container, and thus will provide for the storage of more carriers in a given space.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a bottle carrier that is more readily opened by automatic carrier opening machinery.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from the following de scription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a flexible paperboard blank as died out, cut, creased and preliminarily glued for the production of the improved bottle carrier of the present invention.

Patented Sept. 5., 1961 FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the blank following certain folding and further gluing manipulations.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the carrier in its final, completed condition, in a flat, knocked-down position for shipment or storage.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the bottle carrier in its erected operative position.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are, respectively, enlarged views in vertical section along the lines 5-5 and 6-45 of FIG. 4, illustrating more clearly the makeup of the multi-ply, medial partition and suspending panel of the carrier.

FIG. '7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to designate like or corresponding parts through the several views, there is shown in FIGS. 1 t0 4 inclusive, and in particular in FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, the reference numeral 10 which generally designates a flat blank of flexible paperboard stock. Blank 10 comprises two opposed sections, generally designated 11, 12, which are of practically identical shape; accordingly, description of the features of but one of the sections will be made, corresponding reference numerals being employed to designate corresponding parts of the other.

Sections 11 and 12 are bendably connected to one another by the longitudinal, central crease or fold line 13,

which thereby separates the respective sections 14 of the central partition and supporting panel of the carrier. This panel is generally designated in FIGS. 3 and 4 by the reference numeral 15. The panel sections 14 is provided with an opening 16, shaped to provide the bendable tab 17. A fold line 18 is provided so that the tab 17 may be readily bent or folded.

A foldable flap 19 is joined to the two panel sections 14- by a crease line 23 that is normal to'the medial crease 13. Flap 19 extends on either side of the medial crease 13 forming a flap portion 19' formed by a cut 23". A second flap 20 is joined solely to one of the panel sections 14, also by crease 23. The flaps 19 and 20 have margins 21 and 22 respectively, that correspond in part to the openings 16, and these margins coincide in part with the openings 16 when the flaps 21 are folded. The crease 23 extends beyond the lateral limits of the panel sections. 14, defined by slits 24 paralleling medial crease 13. These crease extensions are designated by the reference numeral 23. They extend into rectangular side wall sections 25 of the blank, which are separated by slits 24 from panel sections 14, and are intersected at their end by angled slits 26. Slits 26 run outwardly in a direction paralleling the medial crease .13 and slits 24, intersecting transverse creases 27 which define the end margin of side wall sections 25, and then angles sharply at 28 toward crease 13, extending throughout a substantial portion of the transverse dimension of the adjacent panel. The slits 26 separate the panel flaps 19 and 20 from the end wall section of the blank, designated 30", which are bendably connected to the side wall sections 25 by the fold lines 27. 1

End wall sections 30 have a generally rectangular bendable tab 31 of substantial area connected thereto by a series of alternate creases and slits constituting a fold line 32, and said tabs 31 are shaped at their outer edge to provide a bottom locking hook 33, for a purpose to be described.

Angled slits 38, generally similar in shape and disposition to the slits 26, are provided adjacent the opposite end of the blank. These slits commence in the side wall sections 25 at a point about two-thirds of the distance between the transverse, side wall defining creases 27 and similar transverse, side wall defining creases 39 along the opposite end of side wall sections 25. A short transverse crease 40 connects the inner end of slits 38 with the longitudinal slits 24, and the wall defining creases 39 are extended at 39' to intersect slits 38, terminating at the end of the aforesaid longitudinal slits 24. This method of slitting and creasing the blank provides pairs of cross partition straps 42, 43 which are freed from the portions of the blank constituting the central panel and the respective side wall sections thereof, said straps being hingedly connected to the respective panel and wall sections by the foldable creases 23, 27, adjacent one end of said sections, and by the like foldable creases 49 adjacent the other end thereof. The angled slits 38 extend across the marginal side Wall defining creases 39 and are then directed sharply toward crease 13, as indicated at 44, to separate the panel sections 14 from end wall sections 45, in the same manner that the slits 26 separate said panel sections from the opposite end wall sections 30.

The mutually convergent angling of the pairs of slits 26, 38 at portions 28, 44, respectively, provides on each of the end wall sections 30, 45 a generally triangular end wall extension 50 of substantial transverse dimension. These pairs of extensions constitute a vertically clongated, bracing abutment of triangular or pyramidal outline at each end of the carrier when the latter is in the erected condition (see FIG. 4).

End wall sections 45 have a generally rectangular flap 46 hingedly connected thereto by alternate slits and creases constituting the transverse fold lines 47, said fold lines cutting across the outer end of the angled slits 38, which thus terminates at the end margin of the panel sections 14. One of the flaps 46 extends past the medial crease 13 as indicated at46, and is separated from the section 14 on the other or opposite side of crease 13 by slit 49.

The two opposed sections 11, 12 of the blank further differ from one another in that the former carries a single, bottom reinforcing flap 51 hingedly connected thereto by fold line 52, said last named fold line defining the bottom margin of one of the side wall panels 25. Carrier section '12 has a full width bottom section 53 foldably connected thereto by the fold line 54 which defines the lower margin of the other side wall panel 25. This bottom section is of width approximating that of the set-up bottle carrier and is subdivided into four equal, foldably connected portions 55, 56, 57 and 58. A series of three spaced and parallel creases 59, 60 and 61 separate these four portions 55, 56, 57 and 58 from each other. A notch 62 is formed in bottom section 53, at one end of the medial crease 60 for coaction with the locking hooks 33 on end wall flaps 31.

In completing the manufacture of the carrier flank, a coating 65 of a suitable adhesive'is applied to the respective panel sections 14 and to end wall flaps 31 in the general pattern illustrated by stippling in FIG. 1, and thereafter the panel flaps 19, 19 and 20 are folded over on hinge lines 23 and the end wall sections 30 (and flaps 31) are folded over on hinge lines 27, to unite said panel flaps 19 and 20 with panel sections 14 and said end wall flaps 31 with the respective infolded panel flaps 19 and 20. The end wall flaps 46, 46' are simultaneously folded over on line 47 and adhered to the adjacent adhesive bearing areas of the respective panel sections 14, bringing said flaps into overlying but unadhered relation to the end wall sections 45, including the triangular extensions 50 thereof.

The blank is now in the intermediate condition shown in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that the end wall flaps 31 and 46 are not adhered to either the side wall sections or to the partition straps 42, 43.

However, said flaps 31 overlap and are adhesively secured to the infolded panel sections 19 and 20 (which are in turn adhered to panel sections 14), over an area of considerable longitudinal and lateral extent, imme- 4 wall flap fold line 32 aligned therewith. The relationship of plies is illustrated in FIG. 5. The panel flap 19' will overlie the panels 14 at the fold line 13. Likewise the opposite end wall flaps 46 are strongly adhered to panel sections 14 over a substantial area, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6.

Adhesive 66 is now applied to hte upper surface of certain of the respective infolded flaps 31, 46, 46, 19, 19' and 20 of the now folded blank, as indicated by stippling in FIG. 2. Adhesive is also applied to the lateral glue flap 51 on carrier section 11, as indicated at 67. The bottom section 53 is then accordion folded on the creases 59, 60 and 61.

It will be understood that the folding of the blank as described herein, is accomplished by automatic machinery. Commonly, plows are used for the folding operations and glue is applied by rollers. Also, the parts that are adhered together are placed under pressure by rollers. Hence, upon folding of the carrier section 11 about medial crease 13 upon the section 12, the tabs 46 and 31 and the flaps 19 and 20 will be placed in intimate contact. As shown in FIG. 7, the knockeddown carton through the handle and side parts consists of four thicknesses of material, and in some places, six thicknesses. There are five thicknesses of material at the bottom, due to the accordion fold thereof, and because of this increased thickness due to the peculiar accordion folding of the bottom 53, the rollers are better able to apply the necessary force to effect a positive securing of the bottom 53 with the glue flap 51.

In erecting the carton, it is only necessary to apply compressive force to the opposite end margins 27, 47 of the flat article, after initiating a slight spreading of the Side wall sections 25. This compression spreads the respectively opposed walls and brings the carrier to generally rectangular set-up outline. The spreading of the carton is greatly aided by the accordion folding of the bottom panel. In order to hold the carrier in said shape, so as to facilitate loading by an automatic loading machine, for example, the bottom section 53 is next urged upwardly past a flat horizontal plane through its medial crease 60 and the detent notch 62 at one end of said crease is then engaged in looking relation with the books 33 on the flaps 31.

It will be noted that where the crease line 13 is folded to form the upper margin of the handle, it will be reinforced substantially across its entire length by the folded and adhered portions 19, 19' and 46, 46', thus forming a four-ply construction in effect double creased at the upper edge of the handle.

There has been provided a bottle carrier that is an improvement over known carriers by virtue of the fact that it is of substantially constant thickness in the knocked-down condition. In particular, the thicknesses of the handle and bottom sections are nearly equal, this permitting a much improved glue bond of the bottom panel. Additionally, the carrier in accordance with the present invention will provide practically level stacking in the hopper of an automatic carrier opening machine. Due to the fact that this carrier takes up less area than prior carriers, it results in marked savings in the cost of the corrugated boxes in which it is shipped.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:'

l. A paperboard bottle carrier comprising, in the knocked-down condition thereof, a pair of side walls each having an end wall panel joined thereto at either end thereof, each of said end wall panels having an infolded tab joined thereto along a margin opposite the margin diately adjacent the panel flap fold line 23, and end thereof that is joined to said side walls, a pair of similar handle panel sections foldably joined to each other along their top edges and also joined to the upper margins of said side walls and said end wall panels, a pair of flaps forming inner panel sections between said handle panel sections and forming therewith a handle section, one of said flaps including an elongated portion folded substantially along and beneath the top edges of said handle panel sections, one pair of said tabs including a portion folded at the top edge of said handle panel sections and extending between said handle panel sections in alignment with said folded elongated portion of said one flap, said flaps and tabs forming in part a six ply handle section, a glue flap integrally joined to a bottom margin of one of said side walls, and a four section, accordion folded bottom joined to the bottom margin of the other side wall, one section of said bottom being glued to said glue flap, whereby to provide a five ply bottom for said carrier.

2. A paperboard bottle carrier comprising, in the knocked-down condition thereof, a pair of side walls each having an end wall panel joined thereto at either end thereof, each of said end wall panels having an infolded tab joined thereto along a margin opposite the margin thereof that is joined to said side walls, a pair of similar handle panel sections foldably'joinedto each other along their top edges and also joined to the upper margins of said side walls and said end wall panels, a pair of flaps forming inner panel sections between said handle panel sections and forming therewith a handle section, one of said flaps including an elongated portion folded substantially along and beneath the top edges of said handle panel sections, one pair of said tabs including a portion folded at the top edge of said handle panel sections and extending between said handle panel sections in alignment with said folded elongated portion of said one flap, said tabs and flaps forming in part a six ply handle section, a glue flap integrally joined to a bottom margin of one of said side walls, and a bottom joined to the bottom margins of the other side wall, said bottom having three substantially evenly spaced creases extending parallel to the margins of said bottom, said bottom being thereby divided into four sections, said sections being accordion folded and the marginal one of said sections being glued to said glue flap.

3. A paperboard bottle carrier comprising, in the knocked-down condition thereof, a pair of side walls each having an end wall panel joined thereto at either end thereof, each of said end wall panels having an infolded tab joined thereto along a margin opposite the margin thereof that is joined to said side walls, a pair of similar handle panel sections foldably joined to each other along their top edges and also joined to the upper margins of said side walls and said end wall panels, a pair of flaps forming inner panel sections between said handle panel sections and forming therewith a handle section, one of said flaps including an elongated portion folded substantially along and beneath the top edges of said handle panel sections, said flaps extending from one end of said handle panel sections toward the other end thereof and terminating short of the other end, one of said pair of tabs including a portion folded along and beneath the top edge of said handle panel sections and extending between said outer panel sections in alignment with said folded elongated portion of said one flap, said tabs and flaps forming in part a six ply handle section, a glue flap integrally joined to a bottom margin of one of said side walls, and a four section, accordion folded bottom joined to the bottom margin of the other side wall, one section of said bottom being glued to said glue flap, whereby to provide a five ply bottom for said carrier.

4. A paperboard bottle carrier comprising, in the knocked-down condition thereof, a pair of side walls each having an end wall panel joined thereto at either end thereof, each of said end wall panels having an infolded tab joined thereto along a margin opposite the margin thereof that is joined to said side walls, a pair of similar handle panel sectionsjoined to each other along their top edges and also joined to the upper margins of said side walls and said end panels, a pair of flaps forming inner panel sections between said handle panel sections and forming therewith a handle section one of said flaps including an elongated portion folded substantially the length of and at the top edge of said handle panel sections, said flaps extending from one end of said handle panel sectionsrtoward the other end thereof and terminating short'of the other end, one of said pair of tabs including a portion folded at the top edge of said handle panel sections and extending between said outer panel sections in alignment with said folded elongated portions of said'one flap, said flaps and tabs forming in part a six ply handle section, a glue flap integrally joined to a bottom margin of one of said side walls, and a bottom joined to the bottom margins of the other sidewall, said bottom having three substantially evenly spaced creases extending parallel to the margins of saidbottorn, said bottom being thereby divided into four sections, said sections being accordion folded and the marginal one of said sections being glued to said glue flap.

5. A paperboard bottle carrier blank comprising on opposite sides of a medial fold line a pair of panel forming sections, each panel including symmetrically of said medial fold lines handle-forming panels including intermediate hand-openings spaced from said fold line, said handle forming panels including in spaced parallel relation to said medial fold line marginal slits forming one side of rectangular side wall sections, a first fold line normal to said medial fold line and including a terminal portion extending beyond said cuts into said side wall sections and forming one end of first cross partition straps, said cuts originating at an intermediate portion of said handle forming panels and terminating therebeyond and forming another side of said cross partition straps, a second fold line extending normal from the origin of said cuts away from said medial fold line and forming one end of second cross partition straps and said wall sections, a third fold line extending normal from said cuts partially into said wall sections forming another end of said second cross partitions, a fourth fold line extending normal from the terminal ends of said cuts and away from said medial fold line and forming the other end of said first cross partition straps and said side wall sections, a fifth fold line parallel to said medial fold line and cuts at the outer terminal ends of said second and fourth fold lines forming the other side of said wall sections and respectively forming one side of a bottom reinforcing flap and a full width bottom section, said reinforcing flap including end edges in linear alignment with-adjacent ends of said second and fourth fold lines and a side edge parallel to its respective fifth fold line, said full width bottom panel including end edges in linear alignment with adjacent ends of said second and fourth fold lines and a side edge parallel to its respective fifth fold line, said full width bottom section comprising four equal-width foldably'connected panel portions parallel to and extending the length of its respective fifth fold line, one end edge of said bottom section including a notched out portion between the second and third foldable connected panel portions, said panels each including oppositely directed second cuts in said side wall sections parallel to said first cuts and originating from the terminal ends of said third line and terminal portions of said first fold line and forming other sides of said cross partition straps, said second cuts extending across said second and fourth fold lines and comprising pairs of converging portions extending angularly and inwardly toward and terminating in spaced relation from said medial fold line, one pair of said converging cut portions forming margins of said handle forming panels, and end wall sections, said second fold line forming another margin of said pair of end wall sections, a sixth fold line parallel to and spaced from said second fold line and intersecting said pair of converging cut portions and said medial fold line and forming another margin of said end wall sections, said pair of end wall sections including L-shaped ends including one leg in alignment with said sixth fold line and another leg in alignment with a respective fifth fold line, said pair of end wall sections each including flaps inwardly of said L-shaped ends and hingedly connected at said sixth fold line, one of said flaps including a portion projecting beyond and intersected by said medial fold line and separated from said sixth fold line by a third cut, the other pair of converging cut portions forming one margin of a second pair of end wall sections hingedly connected to said side wall sections by said fourth fold line which forms another margin thereof, a seventh fold line parallel to said fourth fold line and forming another margin of said second pair of end wall sections, tabs hingedly connected to said second pair of said end wall sections and terminating in spaced relation from said medial fold line, said tabs including a side edge in alignment with a respective fifth fold line and including bottom locking hooks extending away from said seventh fold line for engagement with the notched out portion when the carton is erected, and a pair of handle-reinforcing flaps each hingedly connected to said handle forming panel at said first fold line, one of said handle-reinforcing flaps including a margin disposed inwardly from said medial fold line and originating at said first fold line and including a portion substantially conforming with a portion of said hand-openings and intersecting one of said other pair of converging cut portions forming one margin of one of said second pair of end walls, the other handlereinforcing flap including a marginal cut-out portion substantially conforming with a portion of said hand-openings, said other handle-reinforcing flap including an elongated portion extending between said second pair of end wall sections and inwardly of adjacent ends of said tabs, said elongated portion including a side margin originating adjacent the origin of said margin of said one flap at said first fold line, said medial fold line extending longitudinally through said elongated portion and parallel to said last-mentioned margin.

UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited in the file of this patent Forrer July 28, 1953 

